Ocean Calling (unofficial sequel to The Lake House)
by caneeljoy
Summary: Note: this is not a Max Ride fanfic, but there was no WTWB in the archive. Warning: this story will make NO sense unless you read When The Wind Blows and The Lake House by James Patterson beforehand. Max is raising her two children Janie (Frances Jane) and Ozzy (Ozymandias) after their father Ozymandias was shot by Dr. Ethan Kane. But Ozymandias may not be gone, as they thought...
1. Prologue

She felt immense pain when he died.

She didn't quite know how she felt it, but she did: a physical SNAP inside herself, like her heart was cracking in two. Her programming told her that was ridiculous, that there was no heart to break, but that was how it felt.

Then her secondary programming kicked in. All the previous programs dominating her systems were washed away, like waves on a shore.

Her eyes opened.

So this was his backup plan, the thing he had always alluded to but never said.

She knew what had to be done.


	2. Chapter 1

"Janie! Be careful!" Max called out urgently.

Janie giggled and swooped in a graceful circle. "It's okay, Mama! I can do it! See?"

Max sighed with relief and reclined back against the lawn chair she had been sitting on the very edge of. It always unsettled her to see her own children jump off the roof of the Lake House, but she supposed she would get used to it. After all, they were both getting used to flying now…

Speaking of both, where was-

"Whoo-hoo!" Ozzy squealed delightedly, leaping from the roof, spreading his wings to their full span, and soaring into the air.

"Great job!" Max applauded, smiling widely. She knew how amazing flying felt, especially for the first couple of times she had done it. Which had not been until a few years ago…

Max's smile faded as she thought back to her time at the School. She had escaped those stupid asses, that's for sure, she thought with smug satisfaction. She frowned as she remembered the "skitters," as they used to call the poor lab rats that died, again and again.

Max tried to push the memories away, but they raced through her mind, because she had started this, started thinking again even though she knew it was dumb, she was so stupid. Memories didn't help anyone, they only hurt. But they came faster and faster, the Resurrection, Dr. Kane, Frannie and Kit on those tables, Uncle Tommy smiling maliciously, Ozymandias stroking the side of her face…

Max swallowed hard. NO. NO. She could not, would not think that.

She stood up. "Janie, don't go so far!" The sunlight gleamed behind her daughter, shining off her magnificent wings.

"But, Mama!" Janie was heard complaining from far-off. She banked sharply with one deep brown wing and soared back to the Lake House.

Ozzy neatly landed a few feet from Max. "Mommy, can you teach me how to glide soon?" He stuck out his lower lip. "It never works that good. I start falling and it's scary."

"I'll teach you," Max promised, ruffling his blonde hair only a shade or two darker than hers.

Janie had a harder time of landing, but eventually made it by flying circles smaller and smaller until she was close enough to the ground to drop, which she did, sending out a large puff of dirt and dust. "I did it!"

Max scooped her up in a hug, burying her nose in her daughter's long brown hair. Brown eyes, brown wings. She's like an adorable little truffle, all brown, Max thought fondly.

Ozzy wrapped his arms around Max's waist in a sweet gesture and squeezed her tightly.

"You both did amazing today." Max smiled. "Now, who wants some dinner?"

Just then, Frannie poked her head out from the front door, propping the screen open with one slippered foot. "Food's on the table, Max!"

"What about me?" Janie said indignantly.

"And Janie," Frannie added.

"And me!" Ozzy cut in, running up the stairs into Frannie's arms.

"I saved the best for last." Frannie affectionately tousled his blonde hair.

"I'm not the best…?" Janie stuck out her lower lip and made puppy-dog eyes.

"You're both the best," Frannie said, with a hint of exasperation.

She ushered them inside and turned back. "Max? You coming in?"

Max had walked to the cliff's edge and stood there, looking out across the valley. It was beautiful to look at their own private lake and the forest. Frannie came and joined her, and they watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon.

"It's beautiful here." Max sighed as a cool breeze tangled her hair and ruffled her white-blue feathers.

"It sure beats the city," Frannie agreed. "All those smarmy politicians," Frannie recalled, letting silence fall between them.

"It really is the best out here, but dinner's on inside," Frannie reminded gently.

"I'll be there in a minute," Max said absently, staring without quite seeing at the darkness spreading over the whole sky.

Frannie sighed. She knew it was useless to argue with Max when she got like this: blank, like she wasn't actually there. Frannie went back inside.

Max waited until the door clicked shut, then sank to her knees. She buried her face in her knees. She let a few pathetic tears run from her eyes, even as she felt anger at herself for crying…

When she had lost Ozymandias those years ago, she'd thought the pain would have faded. Everyone else was sad, but the younger they were, the quicker they got over it. Over him. Now, Frannie and Kit acted like he never even existed! Like him and Max hadn't been in love. Sometimes it made her so mad! Ozzy and Janie never even knew their father…

The first while she kept pretending that Oz, her prince, was just around the next corner, and the next and the next and the next. She just kept telling herself that. Eventually she forced herself to stop, to quit that stupid denial, because she knew that he wasn't there and he never would be. Ever.

Max sniffed and watched her tears drip down onto the earth. She just wanted to get up and fly, fly, fly, and fly far away until she was too tired to remember, then curl up at home and sleep next to Oz, her prince, forever.

I'm deluding myself, she thought bitterly. No prince, no princess, no freaking knight in shining feathers to come rescue me. I'm not some damn damsel in distress… She couldn't help but smile slightly at her wordplay.

Kit opened the cabin door. "Max?"

"I was just-!" She tried to think up a quick excuse, fiercely wiping tears away before she turned around and abruptly changed the subject. "I'm starved. What's for dinner?"

"Bucatini." Kit said.

"What's that?" Max needed to keep him talking so he wouldn't pry in her business, like he and Frannie always did.

"It's delicious," he assured her, with only a smidge of suspicion in his voice.

"Great!" She rushed past him into the wood-paneled hallway, wings brushing along the floor. She lifted them up so as not to disturb the neat row of shoes in the mudroom and made a break for the living room, where they ate. It was nice to be able to be able to pretend you were watching TV so you can sometimes avoid personal questions. Like, "how are you, Max?" and "is there anything we can do for you?"

Jeez, Max loved Frannie and Kit to death, but they got pretty nosy sometimes.


	3. Chapter 2

p id="docs-internal-guid-937eeb8d-a9da-a299-ae90-c0d54ca0724e" dir="ltr"In the cozy room, the flock, Frannie, and her lovely babies were clustered. Ozzy and Janie were squished into one armchair and were picking noodles off each others' plates. Frannie was handing Icarus his plate over in the kitchen, which was right next to the living room but separated by a stone counter. Matthew was chowing down on his food in front of the TV, eyes seemingly glued to it. Wendy was sitting in the last chair left in the room inspecting her noodles, and a slightly miffed Peter was on the carpet next to her, slurping away at his meal./p  
p dir="ltr""Wait, Matty!" Janie shrieked, jumping out of the chair and almost knocking Ozzy to the ground. "You forgot the power cheese!"/p  
p dir="ltr""Powdered cheese." Icarus stubbed his toe on a couch leg, muttered a curse, and plopped down on the floor./p  
p dir="ltr""Power cheese," said Janie stubbornly. "It's yummy!"/p  
p dir="ltr"Matthew took the shaker and upended it over his plate. Parmesan sprinkled down onto the carpet./p  
p dir="ltr""I want some!" Icarus complained./p  
p dir="ltr"Max threaded her way through the fray and made for the kitchen. Janie and Ozzy looked up slightly guiltily as she walked by, butter and salt coating their fingers./p  
p dir="ltr"Putting a finger to her lips, Max smiled at them. "Shhh."/p  
p dir="ltr"They both made identical buttery smiles back and continued their mischief./p  
p dir="ltr""Hey, Max!" Frannie smiled warmly at her, the kind of smile that makes you feel all toasty from head to foot. "Want some bucatini?"/p  
p dir="ltr""What's bucatini?" Max stood on her tiptoes and peered into the pot of pasta that Frannie was spooning from./p  
p dir="ltr""It's like spaghetti, but thicker," Frannie explained. "Oh, and it has a hole through the middle of it."/p  
p dir="ltr""So it's a tube?" Max leaned on the counter./p  
p dir="ltr""Yep." Frannie dropped a big ladle-full onto a plate. "Here you are."/p  
p dir="ltr""A little less, please," Max said politely./p  
p dir="ltr""Max, that's not even that much-" Frannie began./p  
p dir="ltr""I'm not that hungry." Max flashed her a winning smile./p  
p dir="ltr"Frannie's eyebrows furrowed, but she took about a third off with her big spoon and dropped it back in the pot./p  
p dir="ltr""Thank you!" Max went over and sat on one of the last empty space on the couch./p  
p dir="ltr""Hiya, Max." A noodle was handing from the edge of Icarus' mouth as he smiled./p  
p dir="ltr""How could you tell it was me?"/p  
p dir="ltr""You weigh less than Frannie and Kit, so you make a lighter sound when you sit down." Ic cocked his head. "Matt, whatcha watching?"/p  
p dir="ltr""Animal Planet!" Matthew exclaimed./p  
p dir="ltr""Again…?" Icarus groaned. "I'm getting tired of listening to that…"/p  
p dir="ltr"Frannie sat down on Max's other side, and Kit sat on the floor near the TV. Both had full plates of steamy goodness./p  
p dir="ltr""Can I have that?" Kit reached for the cheese shaker./p  
p dir="ltr""Yup." Matthew handed it over, eyes not leaving the television set./p  
p dir="ltr""You watch TV too much, Matty," Max said disapprovingly. "Tomorrow, we should go for a fly, all of us together."/p  
p dir="ltr"Kit nodded, unsurprised, though Frannie looked a little bit sad. "We can pack you a picnic lunch," Frannie offered./p  
p dir="ltr""With cookies!" Peter yelled./p  
p dir="ltr""Cookies!" Wendy agreed./p  
p dir="ltr""With cookies and sandwiches and fruit." Frannie laughed./p  
p dir="ltr"As it got darker and darker outside, the flock thought of things to put in the picnic basket. Candles were lit. Frannie and Kit wrote down items that were serious and laughed hard at the ones that weren't. If everything everybody said was put down on Frannie's notepad, it would be a long flight, and they'd have to carry a mattress, a polar bear, and a purple unicorn./p  
p dir="ltr"Kit made made everyone some microwave popcorn, and they all sat and watched "Blue Planet," which was nice, except for when that orca ate some baby seals, which had made Janie and Wendy cry and Ozzy cuddle up to Max, who was touched by his affection./p  
p dir="ltr"After the movie was finished, Kit glanced at his watch. "It's almost 9:30," he said in a low voice to Frannie, who was scooted right up next to him./p  
p dir="ltr""Jesus, really?" Frannie climbed to her feet, making sure she didn't upset the many empty bags of popcorn balanced precariously on the coffee table. "Okay, chickies, time for bed." Frannie had taken to calling them "chickies" lately, as a joke about their wings. Max thought it was kind of dumb, but the other kids seemed to like it./p  
p dir="ltr""Aww!" Wendy sighed, licking salt off her palm./p  
p dir="ltr""Plates in the kitchen." Frannie stood up. "Kit, get the dishes. I'll bolt those doors."/p  
p dir="ltr""Yes, sir!" Kit said. Frannie blew him a kiss as she left. Kit looked after her, smiling like his heart was on fire./p  
p dir="ltr"Max felt a pang of sorrow deep in her breast. She supposed that was how she'd looked when she was around-/p  
p dir="ltr"No. No more thinking about that. Nope./p  
p dir="ltr"Max picked up the empty bags of popcorn, wincing when some unpopped kernels fell and rattled to the floor. She grumbled in annoyance and went over to the kitchen./p  
p dir="ltr""Need some help?" Kit was washing dishes at the sink./p  
p dir="ltr""No thanks."/p  
p dir="ltr""Listen, Max…" Those two words were enough to make Max's heart drop into her stomach with dread./p  
p dir="ltr""What?" She moved busily about the kitchen, throwing out the bags, looking for the dustpan, everything is fine fine fine fine fine./p  
p dir="ltr""Max, sweetie, I just worry about you sometimes." Placing an affectionate hand on her shoulder, Kit smiled at her. "You've been sad lately. I thought… I mean, it's been so… two years, now, isn't it?"/p  
p dir="ltr""Two years," Max echoed. Two years without Ozymandias. Two birthdays, 24 moon cycles, 1 long dream. Not a nightmare, but like that dream that you know something is wrong but you don't exactly know what's wrong and you don't want to think about it, because if you do you might remember, and then the dream turns to Hell and you're trapped!/p  
p dir="ltr"Trapped!/p  
p dir="ltr""I'm fine, Kit!" Max lied forcefully. She ducked under her arm to escape, leaving the dustpan on the counter, kernels on the floor, and discussion hanging in the air./p  
p dir="ltr"Kit's shoulders slumped. He knew he should've expected that, but it hurt a little that she still didn't trust him enough to have an honest conversation. He cleaned, then swept, then crawled into bed with Frannie and slept./p  
p dir="ltr"Max did not. She went right to her room and closed the door. She surveyed the two small beds opposite hers. Kit had built the frames with his own hands when Janie and Ozzy outgrew their shared crib. He had also found small mattresses that fit the frames, and had found perfect-sized and perfect-colored sheets and comforters catered specifically to Ozzy and Janie's wishes./p  
p dir="ltr"He was such a sweetie sometimes. Max usually forgot about that when he was being a big fat nosy jerk./p  
p dir="ltr"Janie was neatly making her bed, and Ozzy was making his blankets into a fort using a chair. Max went over and took the chair away. "Time for bed, Ozzy-my-dear."/p  
p dir="ltr"He giggled when she called him that, because he had been the one to suggest it. "But Mommy, I wanna sleep in a fort!"/p  
p dir="ltr""Make a tent with your blankets using your feet," Max suggested. "It's still like a fort, and you don't have to sleep on the floor."/p  
p dir="ltr""Aw, okay."/p  
p dir="ltr"Janie patted down her comforter as Max came over./p  
p dir="ltr""Why do you make your bed before you get into it?" Ozzy asked Janie, as he did most every night. "It's just gonna get messed up when you sleep."/p  
p dir="ltr""Because I like it," Janie replied as usual. "Tuck me in, Mama?"/p  
p dir="ltr""Is that a please I hear?" Max teased, poking Janie in the tummy./p  
p dir="ltr""Eek!" Janie squealed. "Please! Please!"/p  
p dir="ltr"Max tucked Janie into bed, pulling the soft sunset-colored blanket over her slim frame. "Night, Janie-my-love." Max laid a kiss on her forehead as Janie smiled at the familiar nickname./p  
p dir="ltr""Night..." Janie turned to face the wall and shut her eyes./p  
p dir="ltr"Max pulled Ozzy's sky blue covers up to his chin. "Goodnight, Ozzy-my-dear."/p  
p dir="ltr""Nighty-night, Mommy." Ozzy's eyes slid closed./p  
p dir="ltr"Max smiled fondly at her two slumbering children. She went over and sat on the edge of her bed, which suddenly seemed far too big for one fifteen-year-old mutant. Reaching to turn off the light, she felt a wave of sadness crash over her, like a tsunami looming over a town small enough that it knew it wasn't going to survive the flood. The only escape… was flight!/p  
p dir="ltr"She waited in the dark for a long time, until she was absolutely positive everybody else in the house was dead asleep. No sounds except for the old house swaying on its foundation rooted deep in the ground./p  
p dir="ltr"Max, who had not even gotten under the covers, slipped out of bed. She tentatively checked the floor for creaky boards, and upon finding none, she went over to the window./p  
p dir="ltr""Mama…?" came Janie's sleepy voice./p  
p dir="ltr"Max winced at the sound. She tiptoed over to Janie's bedside and kissed her cheek. "I was just looking out the window, darling. Go back to sleep."/p  
p dir="ltr""Okay…" Janie whispered, trailing off as she slid back into sleep./p  
p dir="ltr"Max waited a while then before moving back to the window. She undid the latch and pushed it up, and it made a soft squeak as it moved. Max paused again before climbing up onto the sill, sitting for a second, then sliding down into open air, 120 feet above the forest!/p  
p dir="ltr"She was out, and nobody knew! Max felt a thrill of happiness at her trickiness. She'd made it! Well, of course she had, she thought. She had done this lots of times around the School: being sneaky and spyish. Even when it was from family, Max knew she'd never get over the pure adrenaline rush of it./p  
p dir="ltr"Max fell quickly, and just before she hit the treeline, she swooped upwards! She gained altitude quickly, letting her wings stretch out to their full gorgeous length of over twelve feet. She flew up through a few misty clouds. She looked to her left and saw several feet of white-blue feathery loveliness, and knew if she looked to her right she would see the same thing. God, how she loved to fly!/p  
p dir="ltr"She flew and flew, calling to the nightbirds and crying a little, and when the sun came up she crept back inside and pretended, like she always did, that she had slept at all, like she was full of joy, like everything was fine./p 


	4. Chapter 3

Frannie knew. She always knew when somebody was hiding something, one way or another. It was like her Spidey Sense, her psychic power, or more like her maternal instincts always making her think twice whenever a kid looked away from her, or hunched their shoulders, or had a history of lying. Like Max, for instance. Sometimes Frannie knew exactly what she was thinking, but as the years had flown by, she'd gotten soft. She didn't read the signs as much.

She worried that maybe it was too late. Maybe Max had another secret, something like the two Schools, that she just wouldn't say.

Frannie liked to think of her as a daughter, but she knew Max had other parents, though their last meeting had not been that pleasant…

She woke up that morning to the sound of her radio clock blaring obscene pop music. She moaned and turned onto her side, causing her to bump into Kit. She opened her eyes, startled, and saw him looking back at her from a few inches away, blue eyes soft and sweet. Almost as sweet as the lips that landed on hers mere seconds later.

They laid together for a while, kissing and giggling (well, Frannie giggled… Kit didn't), until the sun streamed in through the curtains too bright to ignore for much longer.

"I'm worried about Max," Frannie admitted.

"I am too," Kit reassured her. "She's acting oddly."

"I thought she was settling in, Kit." Frannie sighed heavily and rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling. "It's been close to three years since Ozymandias, well…" She trailed off, picturing the boy's broken form on the ground. Max was so full of fight then, but now, it was like she was…

"I don't want to lose her." Frannie rolled back over to face Kit, face full of worry.

"Oh, Fran, Max's a very strong girl." Kit stroked her hair back behind one ear. "She's fourteen now, and almost at an adult's level of maturity. She's going to be fine. She just needs some time."

"But why now?" Frannie asked. "It doesn't make sense. Why would she only mourn him now?"

"Have you ever heard of the Kubler-Ross model?" Kit said gently.

"Yes…"

"I'm no psychiatrist, but it seems to me that Max is just now experiencing the fourth stage, depression, after experiencing the first two steps out of order and the third maybe only mentally."

"You should be a psychiatrist," Frannie teased him.

"Maybe," he said modestly, grinning to show he was playing with her.

She stood up and stretched down to touch her toes. "What time is it?"

Kit leaned over and checked the clock. "Almost quarter past six."

"I'll start breakfast," Frannie decided.

"Aren't you going to get changed?" Kit sounded amused.

"Why bother?" Frannie stretched her hands up, reaching for the dawn-esque sky. "It's not like we're leaving anytime soon."

And she really did believe that…

Sweetly unaware, Frannie padded down the hall to the kitchen. She reached into the cabinets and produced a big bowl from its depths. She considered lazily taking out two boxes of pancake mix, but she chided herself. She pulled out her trusty cookbook. She remembered how she had bought it right as the kids came to the Lake House for the first time. She then began to look for ingredients to make pancakes from scratch.

Kit emerged, wearing leopard-printed slippers. "Need any help?"

"Not right now." Frannie poured flour and sugar into the bowl. "I think I'll make extra fluffy ones this morning, the kid's will love them…" She paused in her musings and looked at Kit. "Where'd that fancy footwear come from?"

"I picked them up when I went for groceries yesterday," he explained. "Nice, right?"

"Nice." There was the barest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Hey!" he yelped.

"I'm kidding." She wasn't. "Can you get the baking powder and baking soda?"

Though miffed, he complied, as she measured salt into a spoon, poured a little bit of milk into the bowl, and melted some butter in a small skillet.

"The kids are going to go ballistic," Kit predicted. "Usually they only get cereal when we're off at work." Frannie had constructed a small veterinary office and had Kit handle the paperwork. They made a great team, and made more than enough money to support the kids and pay the bills.

"Want me to make some bacon?" Kit offered. "Nothin' like the sound and smell of frying meat to wake up to in the morning."

"I don't know… the kids sometimes don't like eating meat." Frannie remembered when Max confessed that she hadn't trusted Frannie and Kit at first because she had watched them catch a fish and "put it to sleep."

"Then we'll eat it." Kit winked at her as he pulled the package from the fridge. "Besides, birds are carnivorous, right?"

"You're ridiculous." Frannie planted a kiss on his cheek and sprayed the skillet, preparing for the kids, everything peaceful and as it should be.


	5. Chapter 4

p id="docs-internal-guid-937eeb8d-a9db-9816-3705-829cd56ebc3c" dir="ltr"Ozymandias coughed and hacked, jerking into a sitting position. He gagged as he felt the tube leading down into his throat. He lost his burst of strength and slumped back down onto the gurney./p  
p dir="ltr"The metal was cold against his bare back. He wondered…/p  
p dir="ltr"Ozymandias' eyes flew open. He saw blurry white figures hustling around him, voices muffled like he was underwater. The ceiling was white, and so were the walls./p  
p dir="ltr"Where am I? he wondered hazily./p  
p dir="ltr"He heard something very faintly. Was somebody calling his name?/p  
p dir="ltr""Ozymandias. I know you are awake. Can you hear me, sweetest?" It appeared to be a woman. How strange. Not Frannie, and not Max…/p  
p dir="ltr"Max./p  
p dir="ltr"He tried to speak, but found he could not around the tube./p  
p dir="ltr""Remove it," came the muted voice. The plastic was gently removed by a person in a white coat…/p  
p dir="ltr"Ozymandias could move his head now. He looked down at himself and saw he was wearing the same clothes as he had when-/p  
p dir="ltr"When-/p  
p dir="ltr""Why am I alive?" he rasped. "I died… didn't I…?"/p  
p dir="ltr""Don't strain yourself, darling," the woman soothed. He couldn't see her face yet. Nothing would come into focus…/p  
p dir="ltr"Ozymandias craned his neck and looked down towards his feet. He was only wearing a pair of boxers. He saw a circular scar right in the middle of his eagle tattoo, right where he was shot. But not killed, somehow…/p  
p dir="ltr""Who are you?" he croaked./p  
p dir="ltr""Never you mind, dearest." Her voice was sweet, and Oz thought he detected a trace of metallic undertones…/p  
p dir="ltr"The woman turned to the doctor closest to her. "Put him under."/p  
p dir="ltr"Ozymandias felt a stab in his right arm, and the room faded to white, then black, then nothing at all./p 


	6. Chapter 5

p id="docs-internal-guid-937eeb8d-a9dc-0e09-7ef5-85febb047e9a" dir="ltr"Max stabbed three pancakes with her fork and placed them on her plate. She kept her eyes on the food and did not look up, out of fear that somebody would notice she hadn't slept at all last night./p  
p dir="ltr" "Max, some of us also want food," Matthew said impatiently./p  
p dir="ltr" "Sorry," she muttered, moving down the table She spotted the plate of sizzling bacon and pulled a face. She spread butter on her meal and went over to sit on the couch. Janie and Ozzy were sitting side-by-side, and looked up as she approached./p  
p dir="ltr" "Here, Mommy!" Ozzy smiled and scooted to one side, gesturing for her to sit between them with his plate./p  
p dir="ltr" "Careful you don't spill your breakfast." Max sat carefully on the couch, wincing as her tired wing muscles pulled at the effort./p  
p dir="ltr" Janie was very perceptive, especially when it came to her mother. "Are you hurting, Mama?"/p  
p dir="ltr" Max smiled tiredly. "I'm fantastic, Janie-my-love. Just woke up a little sore."/p  
p dir="ltr" Janie smiled and put a piece of bacon in her mouth. "Why don't you have bake-in?"/p  
p dir="ltr" "Mommy doesn't like bacon." Max carefully enunciated the last word, because she noticed her daughter had pronounced it like two words./p  
p dir="ltr" Frannie swabbed down the steaming griddle. "Does anyone want anything to drink?"/p  
p dir="ltr" "I'll get it," Icarus said, leaving his pancakes balanced on the arm of his chair. He knew his way perfectly around the cabin from all the years they'd spent there./p  
p dir="ltr" "I can help." Matthew stood up./p  
p dir="ltr" "I want milk!" Ozzy called at them./p  
p dir="ltr" "Me too!" Janie piped up./p  
p dir="ltr" Ic pulled the carton from the fridge. "Frannie? Max?"/p  
p dir="ltr" "I'm good, honey." Frannie lifted up her cup of tea, then quickly realized her error. "I have tea, Icarus."/p  
p dir="ltr" "'Kay then." He turned and poured milk into two cups, spilling only a little on the counter. "Max?"/p  
p dir="ltr" "Water, please." She pushed down on the top pancake with the back of her fork, intently watching the melted butter pool in the indent./p  
p dir="ltr" "Max, are you feeling alright?" Frannie sat next to her and nudged her with her elbow when she didn't respond./p  
p dir="ltr" "What?" Max jumped. "Oh, um, yeah. I'm fine."/p  
p dir="ltr" Frannie sighed, because she knew Max was outright lying. "Max-"/p  
p dir="ltr" Max shot to her feet, almost upsetting her plate. She knew this was going somewhere. Nowhere good, though. "How's that fly sounding, everyone?"/p  
p dir="ltr" Peter and Wendy shot to their feet, black hair bouncing in unison. "Yes!" Wendy's wings fluttered excitedly./p  
p dir="ltr" Matthew shoved a whole pancake in his mouth. "Mmffay," he said around it. He swallowed the big bite and grinned widely. "Lessgo!"/p  
p dir="ltr" Frannie frowned. "Max-" she tried again, but in vain. Max was in the kitchen. Kit was packing the last of the pancakes into a big straw basket. "Is that for me?" She smiled sweetly./p  
p dir="ltr" "For all of us, you greedy-guts," Icarus complained./p  
p dir="ltr" "Yep." Kit could sense the charge in the air, though he didn't know what was going on. He handed the basket to Max. "I hope it's enough…"/p  
p dir="ltr" "It's probably not." Peter grinned. "We probably each need one."/p  
p dir="ltr" Kit looked upset. "I don't think-"/p  
p dir="ltr" "He's joking," Wendy reassured Kit. "My brother the joker."/p  
p dir="ltr" "That guy is the bomb…" Peter trailed off and giggled maniacally./p  
p dir="ltr" "That guy is a bad role model," Wendy chided./p  
p dir="ltr" "Can we come too?" Janie pleaded, brown eyes imploring./p  
p dir="ltr" "We're getting gooder at flying!" Ozzy added./p  
p dir="ltr" "Gooder is not a word, sweetheart." Max patted his shoulder./p  
p dir="ltr" "It's my word," he pouted. /p  
p dir="ltr" "Of course you can come." She didn't want to leave the kids alone at the Lake House. She knew splitting up was a bad idea, even with Frannie and Kit, because she knew their intentions were good but if things got bad they couldn't fly away./p  
p dir="ltr"Still up to her old paranoid hijinks, she thought. But maybe that wasn't a completely bad thing…/p  
p dir="ltr" Frannie was visibly upset now. Max knew how she liked being in charge, like they were all her little babies. With no hearts or souls!/p  
p dir="ltr" "Now, Max, I-" Her eyebrows were drawn together./p  
p dir="ltr" Max kept ignoring her. "Here, Matty." She handed the basket to Matthew. "Get everyone in the air and wait for me over our Lake," she ordered. "I'm bringing Ozzy and Janie up to the roof; they're not comfortable with ground liftoffs yet."/p  
p dir="ltr" "Okay!" Matthew said cheerfully. "C'mon, Ic! Petey and Wendy!"/p  
p dir="ltr" "Flock flight! Flock flight!" cheered Wendy and Peter. "We're going on a flock flight!"/p  
p dir="ltr" Max felt pain almost physical upon remembering when Ozymandias' name had been in their sayable vocabulary. The rest of her flock chattered their way out of the room and out the front door./p  
p dir="ltr" "Max!" Frannie was almost spitting mad now./p  
p dir="ltr" Max spun a 180 to face Frannie. "Yes?" she said pleasantly./p  
p dir="ltr" Frannie was close to glaring. This was the maddest Max had ever seen her. Her mouth opened and shut, but she could not seem to speak. Max found it almost funny, somehow./p  
p dir="ltr" "Cat got your tongue?" quipped she./p  
p dir="ltr" "No, in fact, it hasn't." Frannie folded her arms and exhaled, as if preparing herself./p  
p dir="ltr" "Janie, Ozzy, dearests?" Max smiled at them, trying not to show her anxiety. "Go on up to the roof. Use the ladder, alright? I will be with you soon."/p  
p dir="ltr" They both were very sensitive to emotion and body language, just like she was. "Okay, Mommy," they said in unison, and slipped from the room./p  
p dir="ltr" Max turned to Frannie. "What is it?" She was slowly becoming less nervous and more angered./p  
p dir="ltr" "I think you know exactly what it is," Frannie said, voice full of venom. "For a while now, you've been running away from me, ignoring me, lying to me, and Kit too!"/p  
p dir="ltr" Max stared at her, impassive, stone-faced./p  
p dir="ltr" "Why?" Frannie finally said. "Why now? Why, all of a sudden, this?"/p  
p dir="ltr" Max shrugged, keeping her face very neutral./p  
p dir="ltr" Kit's voice was full of honey, sticky-sweet and trying to draw her in. "Maxie, we're just worried about you. We want to make sure you're alright, sweetie."/p  
p dir="ltr" Max's fists were clenched. She drove back a barrage of insults and shouting with sheer willpower. What makes you so special?! she thought fiercely. What makes either of you think I want to tell you anything about me?!/p  
p dir="ltr" "We want to keep you safe, sweetest." Frannie was not mad now, sensing she had won the battle./p  
p dir="ltr" Max was seeing red./p  
p dir="ltr" "NO!" Max shrilled at the top of her voice, causing them both to jump back./p  
p dir="ltr" "...no what?" Kit and Frannie looked so innocently startled that Max snorted./p  
p dir="ltr" "No, you don't!" She was on a rampage now, and though she tried to rein in her anger it poured from her in torrents. "You only care about yourselves! All you want from me is for me to tell you everything! Well, I don't have to tell you anything about me! You're not my parents, so LEAVE ME ALONE!"/p  
p dir="ltr" She left them standing in the kitchen./p 


	7. Chapter 6

"This is amazing, Mama!" Janie squealed happily as she soared next to her mother.

Mama smiled slightly but kept her eyes forward. She was thinking hard. Janie could tell.

"What are you thinking about?" Janie made a slight right so their wings were almost touching. She looked anxiously at her empty face.

"How I can't wait for lunch!" Max forced a smile.

"Mamaaaaa." Janie was disapproving.

"I'm alright, love."

"I… okay." Janie gave up. When Mama didn't want to talk, she wouldn't. She had learned that by now.

Janie had listened outside the kitchen door. Mama had fought with Kit and Frannie. She wondered why…

Max looked at her, as if sensing her thoughts. "I'm fine, Janie."

"Swear and promise?" Janie said.

Max sighed. "Swear and promise."

They were flying high over miles and miles of forest. Matthew was carrying the basket, and they were all chirping excitedly so Icarus knew where they all were. Janie remembered her mama teaching her and Ozzy how to bird-speak when they were just babies. They knew all kinds of bird songs even before they could even talk.

Ozzy paused in his chirps. "Mommy, can you please teach me how to glide?"

Max smiled. " Of course! It's really fun, Ozzy."

Janie watched them bank past her to the left so they wouldn't accidentally hit anyone in case of a mis-fly. She saw her mother smile, and it made her smile too.

After a long time of just flying and laughing and playing air-tag, the sun was directly overhead. Now, because they were in the mountains it was not blisteringly hot, but all the exercise had made them tired. So they found a nice plateau about two-thirds up a mountain big enough for all of them to sit comfortably.

Janie made small circles overhead as Max's combat boots touched down in the dirt. "I can't land!" Janie was very nervous. She watched Ozzy land with little hassle and frowned.

"It's okay, Janie!" her mama called up. "Just angle your wings down a little and let your feet fall like you're standing."

Janie bent her brunette wings slightly and pointed her toes at the ground. For a scary second, she felt like she was going to crash, but she touched down and stumbled only a tiny bit.

"Yay, Janie!" Ozzy gave her a feather-filled hug.

"Nice work!" Matthew said, opening the basket. "You get first pick of the cookies!"

"There are cookies?" Wendy perked up.

"Me first," Janie reminded her kindly.

They all had a great lunch, with cookies and cold veggie pizza and sandwiches and oranges. Janie chose the biggest, chocolatey-est cookie, and saved it for last. A few careless drips of chocolate fell from the ledge as she dangled her feet, and they fell into nothingness.


	8. Chapter 7

Juliette was completely business now. There was no trace of feminine grace or love in her systems. No flowery outfits. No seduction. Only cold, hard work protocols and plans.

The doctors and nurses tried their best to steer clear of her. She looked very much like a woman… but everybody knew full well that was not the case. This robot was all of Dr. Ethan Kane's medical genius in a non-human vessel. And she did not tolerate failure of any kind.

She wore plain white clothes: a white blouse, white slacks, a long white lab coat billowing out behind her as she walked down the tiled hallway. The only things she wore that were not white were her 6-inch black heels, which clacked sharply as she stepped.

She arrived at her office. It used to be her maker's, but now it was hers. All the files, all the pencils and papers, everything. She was still getting used to her new consciousness. Before, she had been so limited. She couldn't access any of the files that Dr. Kane had downloaded into her hard drive, nor had she wanted to even try to. But now… all this knowledge, all this power! It was very interesting to her.

A nervous but burly-looking man knocked lightly on her door. She swiveled in her chair. Her facial recognition labeled him as the head of security, Tyson Capacat.

"Yes, Mr. Capacat?" she said pleasantly.

"Ma'am, you told me to update you on any developments concerning the newest Patient." He was the first mutant patient they had done the operation on, and it had been a delicate process. Dr. Kane had made some very rough plans as soon as the boy had been shot, but Juliette had made some quick decisions and the surgery had been carried out.

"How is he?" Juliette examined her immaculate nails.

"Still out from the drugs," Tyson said. "But he'll wake up again soon."

"Dose him again. Double this time." Juliette stood, and Tyson backed up. "Have you made any progress on finding the rest?"

"The rest of- oh, the bird kids." Tyson shook his head. "We don't have their exact location, but we know roughly around a 10-mile radius."

"Find them." There was a definite threat in her voice.

Tyson Capacat backed out of the room, hoping he never would have to face that terrifyingly human android ever again.


	9. Chapter 8

p id="docs-internal-guid-937eeb8d-a9df-0030-7b79-dc19e3526849" dir="ltr"Frannie was shaken. Max had been so sweet and docile. Sure, she'd had those times when she'd shut Kit and her out, but it was because she wanted to protect them, in the end. Now it was like that girlish side of her who loved hugs and cuddling was just gone./p  
p dir="ltr" Kit had been upset too, but he was quick to console her. "She's growing up," he said to Frannie. "She's very mature for her age, but there had to be a rebellion phase eventually."/p  
p dir="ltr" Frannie had laughed and teased him about reading too many bird books and going into psychiatry, but she was very upset. Max used to be so open and free with her. And her saying that they weren't even their parents, even after that whole ugly court battle… something was up with her./p  
p dir="ltr" The kids all came back in a hurry, as storm clouds were forming grey and black across the sky. It was raining lightly, and everyone was giggly and damp and they hustled inside. Max was last, ushering Janie and Ozzy quickly in front of her./p  
p dir="ltr" Frannie watched her closely for any signs of sadness or anger, but she could see none. Max completely ignored her and bustled by. "Both of you start the shower. I don't want you catching cold."/p  
p dir="ltr" "I'm already cold." Janie's teeth chattered as she pulled off her soggy shoes./p  
p dir="ltr" "Hurry up, Janie!" Ozzy hopped up and down trying to warm up his numbing feet as he waited for his sister./p  
p dir="ltr" Frannie and Kit were politely greeted by Peter, Wendy, and Icarus, who could all tell Max had had a fight with them. Matthew gave Kit the basket back, muttering about good cookies, and disappeared./p  
p dir="ltr" As soon as they were all out of the room, Frannie collapsed into a chair. Kit sat next to her. They both let out a sigh./p  
p dir="ltr" "They're are very protective of each other." Frannie sniffed and swiped at a tear./p  
p dir="ltr" "Hey, it's okay, Fran." Kit put his arm around her. "They're just-"/p  
p dir="ltr" A big clap of thunder interrupted him. They both jumped./p  
p dir="ltr" "Let's lock up," Frannie suggested./p  
p dir="ltr" They both rushed to prepare for the oncoming storm./p 


	10. Chapter 9

Max slid Janie's soaked smock over her head. Janie shivered as the colder air hit her skin. Ozzy was wriggling with effort out of his pants, shirt draped over the shower rod and dripping on the bathmat.

Max tested the water flowing into the tub with her elbow and nodded. "It's perfect. Both of you, try not to get water on the floor, it could rot the wood."

"Ew!" Janie turned the tap with her downy fingers to the off position and climbed into the deep tub, Ozzy right behind her. Max left the steam-filled bathroom and went straight to her room.

She shut the door and leaned up against it, suddenly exhausted. She was tired from the fly, yes, but also just… so, so tired. She wished Ozymandias was there for the umteenth time in forever. She stood, remembering, for a long while, when-

-thunder smashed the house with its solid hands, and the very foundation shook in the ground. Max stumbled to the left and caught herself on one of her bedposts. Why, she wondered suddenly, was she given a king-sized bed? Wasn't that ironic and sad in a twisted sort of way?

She snapped out of her reverie as she heard Janie wailing in a high-pitched voice. "Mama! Mama!"

Max righted herself and sped to the bathroom. She yanked open the door and warm fog drifted into the hallway in plumes. "What is it?!"

"It's loud, Mama…" Janie quivered, standing dripping on the floor. Ozzy was in the mostly-drained tub, looking less frightened and more thoughtful.

"Should we not be in the water during a lightning storm?" he asked Max.

"Of course not, but you were cold." Max bundled Janie up in a fluffy towel. "Your pajamas just came out of the dryer; go put them on and get warm."

Ozzy took a towel and raced after his sister in a spirited race. At the same time, Frannie appeared in the hall. "They shouldn't be showering in a thunderstorm, Max." Her voice contained a condescending tone that Max despised above all else.

"I think I know how to take care of my own children, thank you," Max said shortly. She pushed past Frannie and made a beeline for her open door, where Janie and Ozzy were no doubt waiting.

"Max-"

Max was having none of it. Maybe Frannie wasn't still mad, but she definitely was. She shut the door on Frannie, shut the door on everyone else, shut the door on sentiment. Slam. A done sound.

Janie was in her favorite white dress and brown slippers, with her rose-colored robe overtop. "Mama, have you seen my scarfie?" Janie had adopted the practice of having a special scarf instead of a blanket, and she'd taken a liking to the red one Max had bought with her birthday money. Max had given it to her because she knew how much Janie loved it, and now Janie never slept a night without it wrapped around her neck, waist, or stuffed dog.

Ozzy was in his favorite PJs as well, a blue top and bottom that exactly matched his bedspread. He liked color-coordination, unlike Janie, who loved making everything as colorful as possible.

"It's here, Janie." Max picked up the soft article from off the floor.

"Yay! Scarfie!" Janie grabbed it and hugged it to her chest before tying it around her neck securely.

Ozzy went over to the window and looked out, a flash of lightning illuminating his pale face. "Is it time for bed, Mommy?"

"I don't know if I can sleep…" Janie shivered despite her warm clothing.

"Come into my bed, you two." Max looked at the clock. It was close to 6. Well, they could all use the extra sleep… plus, Max didn't want to deal with Frannie right now. She just wanted to curl up with her babies and sleep.

She climbed into her overly-large bed first, and Ozzy came in on her left, Janie on her right. Max tucked the covers around all of them, then put her arms out so she could hug them both to her sides. They settled in against her and she laid down. There would be no night-flight tonight. Tonight, it was just her babies and her.

Just for tonight, she thought as she slid into sleep.


	11. Chapter 10

p id="docs-internal-guid-937eeb8d-a9ea-0298-d7b0-aa29c382dd2d" dir="ltr"Juliette was sitting in a chair in her office. It was behind Dr. Kane's - well, her desk now. To anyone stupid, it would look like she was just sitting and staring at nothing. She switched from doing this to looking at papers on her desk. While she stared, she was going through files stored on her hard drive. She did this as much as she could, gaining intelligence and knowledge. It was vital to her cause. She had to know everything about Resurrection, about the surgeries and the patients and the procedures and-/p  
p dir="ltr" Someone was standing in her doorway. From her peripheral vision she identified him as one of Capacat's lead hunters./p  
p dir="ltr" "I hope this means you've found them." Juliette looked up./p  
p dir="ltr" He stayed in the doorframe, unable to stop staring at her. He hadn't believed his boss when he'd told him how utterly terrifying Ms. Kane was. "Yes. We've found them." Anyone who scared his boss, the not-easily-scared Tyson Capacat, scared him to his core./p  
p dir="ltr" "Dr. Kane's instructions are explicit: capture them." Juliette stood. "I want you to tell Capacat to rein in his men. Absolutely no killing, or you will have me to deal with."/p  
p dir="ltr" "What happens after we capture them?" The man couldn't help himself from asking./p  
p dir="ltr" Juliette gave him a frosty smile. "What happens to all the rest, Mr. Capacat. Now, go! I want those kids here by tomorrow morning."/p  
p dir="ltr" "What about the two adults, ma'am?" He nervously shifted his weight./p  
p dir="ltr" "They are of no use to us, but Dr. Kane wishes to use them as… incentive. In case the children get any big ideas." She looked at him intensely. "Remember that these are one of the only successful transgenic organisms created in our labs. They are not to be killed."/p  
p dir="ltr" "Beaten into submission?" the man suggested nervously./p  
p dir="ltr" "If that is necessary." She turned away from him to some papers on her desk, clearly dismissing him./p  
p dir="ltr" "Yes, ma'am." The hunter, shaken, headed back to his squad to tell them about the terrible woman with those cold, hard eyes./p 


	12. Chapter 11

p id="docs-internal-guid-937eeb8d-a9eb-0a21-4d50-27cd5ef8c96b" dir="ltr"Max was sleeping a dreamless sleep, warm and safe-feeling, when she was suddenly awoken by a clap of thunder. But there was another noise that came to her attention…/p  
p dir="ltr"She sat straight up, disturbing Janie and Ozzy, who murmured birdlike coos in their sleep and shifted in their sleep. Her heart was pounding, and her adrenaline was rushing-/p  
p dir="ltr" What was that sound? Creaking on the porch, snapping twigs-/p  
p dir="ltr" Hunters! Here! Hunters! Hunters at the Lake House!/p  
p dir="ltr" Oh no, oh no, oh no! Max repeated that mantra in her head. No no no no… no… /p  
p dir="ltr" Yes./p  
p dir="ltr" Max switched into survival mode. She silently rose from the bed and shook Janie's shoulder, then Ozzy's. When Janie opened her mouth to complain, Max covered it with her hand, fast. Janie's eyes opened, sleepy but instantly alert upon seeing the terror on her mother's face./p  
p dir="ltr" "Wake your brother," Max breathed./p  
p dir="ltr" As Janie turned to Ozzy, Max moved to the bookshelf and took a knife out from behind a dictionary on the highest shelf. She had placed it there two years ago after stealing it from a nearby store, swearing to herself that she would never need it…/p  
p dir="ltr" Maybe this time, she wouldn't just have to rely on her flight. Now maybe she could fight!/p  
p dir="ltr" Ozzy was out of bed now, silent as Janie. The two of them crept over to their mother./p  
p dir="ltr" Ozzy's voice was the barest whisper. "Mommy, what's going on?"/p  
p dir="ltr" Max's voice was even quieter. "Bad men. We have to run."/p  
p dir="ltr" "Bad men?" Janie's voice was quiet, but not quiet enough. Max violently shushed her, eyes scanning through the window for any movement./p  
p dir="ltr" "Go into the hall and wake everyone," Max breathed into their waiting ears. "Away from windows. Silent as bone. Go, now."/p  
p dir="ltr" "Mama, are you-" Janie began, but Max put a finger to her lips. "Hush now," she whispered to her daughter. "Go."/p  
p dir="ltr" Janie and Ozzy crept from the room and Max turned to the window. She hadn't told them of her plan for a reason./p  
p dir="ltr" Because it was basically suicide./p  
p dir="ltr" Max slipped to the window and raised her head. Hunters on the porch. Lots of them. She could see the tall leader ready to break the door down./p  
p dir="ltr" A man saw her! Opened his mouth to shout!/p  
p dir="ltr" Max leapt!/p  
p dir="ltr" It was all a blur- the glass shattering, men shouting, guns raising- Max slashed forward (she KILLED them! Anyone who threatened her family was DEAD)- men dropped to the ground and blood splashed-/p  
p dir="ltr" Somebody stuck something into Max's side- a bright flash of light, her body spasming-/p  
p dir="ltr" Janie, Ozzy, please… run…/p  
p dir="ltr" She collapsed and felt no more./p 


	13. Chapter 12

Ozzy and Janie were alone.

Because they had failed.

Everyone was gone.

Janie saw her Mama fall beneath the hands of the big men. She screamed.

The whole flock, and Frannie and Kit, had burst into the hallway. Kit had a shotgun.

The men threw grenades, grenades full of gas. Frannie had grabbed Janie and Ozzy and she saved them. She threw them out the back window, which hurt, but she saved them. Janie watched as the flock went down fighting…

But, inevitably, they went down.

"Janie." Ozzy had tugged on her hand. They were in the forest, hiding like little babies, as the flock and Frannie and Kit and Mama were loaded into vans. Mama always taught them: survive. "You are survivors," she said. "Even if I die, you run. You don't fight, sweet babies, because you will lose." The words had scared them at the time, but now they made perfect sense. "Stay alive. Stay safe. You're my babies. Nobody else can have you."

They had flown away, low and quiet like Mama taught them. Now they were deep in the forest, sitting by a lake under the overhanging branches. Ozzy got on his knees and took a drink from the clear, crisp water.

"Ozzy… maybe we shouldnt've run." Janie dipped a foot in the chilly water and watched her feathered toes wiggle. She had feathers on the backs of her feet and ankles; all of them did. It helped them steer when they flew. Janie's were brown, just like, Max told her, Ozymandias.

Ozzy lifted his head, water running down his chin. "Mommy told us to run, so we ran."

"But maybe… we might have been able to save her!" Janie tucked her head in her feathery arms.

"We're too little," Ozzy said.

"Three isn't that much too little!" Janie looked close to five or six, and Ozzy looked a bit older.

"Yes, it is," Ozzy said, always the voice of reason.

Janie sighed. "I'm tired."

"Me too."

"Where should we sleep?"

"How about the ground?"

Janie pulled a face. "The ground?"

"Sure!" Ozzy retreated into the undergrowth and came back with several pine boughs. "The leaves and needles are all cozy, just like home."

"But it's not home." Janie's lower lip quivered.

"Close enough," Ozzy soothed. "Close enough."

* * *

Updates from hereon out will probably be infrequent... sorry about that. I hope you've enjoyed my unofficial sequel thus far!


	14. Chapter 13

It was dark and cold. Max realized it was dark because her eyes were shut. She pried them open with her fingers, because something was holding them shut. Dried blood, she realized. And the reason it was cold was because…

She was in a cage.

The School!

She opened her mouth and screamed at the top of her lungs! She threw herself at the side of the cage, hands clawing at the bars. She had to get out! Janie! Ozzy! The flock!

Ozymandias!

No. Not him. Everybody but him…

"It is no use, Max," came a voice.

Max didn't falter. She screamed louder! She had to escape! Her babies… her babies…

"Max, if you do not calm down I will be forced to tranquilize you," came the voice again. It sounded like a woman, but somehow, not a woman.

Max stopped screaming. Her head ached and she didn't want to be tranquilized. She knew what that word meant from all the years in the School…

Tears streamed down her cheeks, but she kept her face impassive as she looked through the bars to see who this woman was.

She was dressed like the other men bustling around the room: white, white, and white. Her face looked very breakable, almost like a china doll that you'd put up on a shelf and never play with. She scared Max, deep inside, but Max knew better than to show it.

"Who the _hell_ are you." Max tried to make her voice menacing and was unsure whether she'd succeeded or not.

"My name is Juliette," she said. Her voice was flat, almost eerily so. Max wondered…

"How long have I-"

Juliette interrupted her. "Four days. You're quite the heavy sleeper. Then again, we did use massive amounts of sedative to keep you under."

Max bristled at her casual tone. "Why are you running the School?"

Juliette laughed, a dainty, bell-like sound. "This is not the School, Max. It is a hospital, for sick people. I help fix them." Max remembered. The School was gone… she'd seen the ruin.

"We're not sick!" Max rattled the bars of her cage. She looked wildly about, neck craning, looking for exits, a kind face, _anything_. She was the only person there, besides Juliette.

"Where is my family? What are you doing here? And why us? Why any of this?" She started crying silently.

Juliette paused before continuing, as if considering what Max was saying. "Your family? You are referring to the other recombinants, correct?" She didn't wait for Max to answer before continuing. "They are perfectly safe. And what I am doing here is only my business, Max. Mine and the doctor's."

"Who is the doctor?" Max asked, but Juliette talked right over her.

"Why you? Because the doctor instructed me to capture you. Why any of this, Max? Well, because it is what I am made for."

"Nobody _made_ you do a _damn thing_!" Max snarled. Some of her feathers became stuck in the latch holding the cage shut, and she violently yanked her arms free.

"That statement is true." Juliette smiled. "I am doing this of my own volition."

"Why…?" Max whispered.

"Because the doctor instructed me to."

"And where is this doctor _now_? I want to speak with him" Max was exhausted. She wanted to sleep…

"I regret to inform you that the doctor is dead." Juliette smiled again. "It was you who killed him, you know."

Max was awake now. Puzzle pieces were falling into place.

"Doctor Kane?" She almost hoped Juliette would ask who that was.

"Indeed."

"So then… who are you? His wife?"

"Yes."

"He never told me he had a wife…" _I assumed he was incapable of love,_ Max thought.

"Oh, he is," Juliette assured her. Max realized she had spoken that aloud. "I am sorry if you were confused. You see, I am not human. Doctor Kane designed me to act as a backup plan in the event of his death."

"A backup? So you're…" Max's eyes widened.

"Yes, an android." Juliette sounded almost happy. "I am the very first AI. It is an honor."

Max slumped back in her cage. Humans could be tricked. Humans had weaknesses. But robots… Max didn't know a lot about robots, but she guessed they were like dogs: they had superpowers. They were stronger and smarter…

"So, Max, I encourage your cooperation," Juliette said, kneeling down so she was eye-to-eye with Max. Max stared into her glassy eyes, afraid.

"Why would I do that?" Max glared.

"I have the upper hand, if this comes to a standoff," Juliette offered.

"Yeah? If you mean Frannie and Kit, go ahead," Max bluffed. "I don't care about them anymore. They're not even my family."

The raising of one perfect eyebrow was the only indication Juliette gave of surprise. "Really? Interesting. But there is one more thing…"

"Oh really?" Max put all the sarcasm she could muster into those two words.

"Ozymandias," Juliette said.

Max was caught off-guard, but quickly recovered. "Yeah? Your dead husband shot him. He's dead. What's the big deal?"

"He is not dead, Max."

"Of course he is," Max snapped. "I saw him, I tried to save him. He's dead."

"Did you ever see his body after that? Did you have a funeral? Bury him?"

"N-no…" Max stammered, but stopped herself. No false hope. Not now. This stupid robot lady was tricking her. "Ozymandias is dead. He was shot through the heart."

"Oh, Max." Juliette chucked. "We can reverse-engineer a carrot. We can make children grow wings. Do you not think that we can re-grow a heart?"


	15. Chapter 14

Ozymandias' eyes shot open. Somebody had a needle in his arm. Through his pulsing vision he saw the word 'adrenaline' printed on the side of the syringe. His heart was pounding, head was aching…

The School. That hospital-y smell, the doctors rushing about. Wait. The School was gone, blown off the map. So where…?

Oh, god.

"Ozymandias, look at me," came the female voice. He remembered her. She had ordered for him to be knocked out.

He suddenly found a bit of strength and lunged forward, ready to fight. He was stopped by restraints on his feathered arms and bare legs. Of course.

"Make sure he is secure. He is very strong." A pause, and Ozymandias felt rough hands on his wings, checking his straps.

"Ozymandias, can you see this light?" A very bright light shone into his eyes. He moaned and turned his head away.

"Good." A clicking and a bit of shuffling. "How are the surgical procedures going?" Her voice was further away now.

"Well, ma'am," came the shaky voice of a male scientist. It seemed like all the scientists he had heard were male, in here, except for the woman. "We've taken his blood samples, and if we really are going to proceed, we'll need blood donations from compatible mutants."

"They are called recombinants," the woman corrected coldly.

"A-ah, yes, of course," the man stammered. "We will need a lot of blood, of course, because he will be bleeding profusely and his body will be unable to fight infection…"

Ozymandias was thrashing again. Surgery? They were going to do surgery?! What kind of surgery?!

"Ah yes… the leader," the woman said. "She's refused to cooperate unless she sees him with her own eyes."

"Take him, if you must," the man sighed. "I will have Dr. Undes wheel him. Dr. Undes!"

Shuffling feet. "Yes, sir?"

"Take the Patient to the storage room."

"Yes, sir." Ozymandias felt himself moving, and the lights became a little dimmer. A click, and when he opened his eyes he found himself moving down a hallway.

He turned his head to one side but could not see behind himself. "Where are you taking me?"

The man did not reply.

A door opened, and the room was almost in total darkness.

"Who's there?" came a fierce, oh-so-beloved voice.

Ozymandias couldn't believe it. He wouldn't. But his mouth opened, and he whispered hoarsely:

"Max?"


	16. Chapter 15

Max wasn't going to let herself believe her ears… but she folded when she heard that voice.

"...Ozy...mand...ias?" So weak. He made her so weak…

"Max…" But he was weak too. His voice… she couldn't really see him, barely at all, just a glint of steel and a few feathers (plus the silhouette of the intruding doctor behind him), but his voice… she had never heard him like this!

He sounded like he was back from the dead… which he… was!

"I didn't trust her…" Max admitted. "But you, you're, you're really alive!"

"Max… how are you even here…?"

"They… they jumped us at the Lake House, Ozymandias. But J- Oh, Ozymandias, you never knew them!"

"Knew… who…?"

"Our babies!"

"We-?" Ozymandias' voice was louder now, but the doctor cut him off. "That's enough. Back to prep."

"I won't stop fighting, Ozymandias!" Max promised. "I'll get us out… I swear!"

The gurney squeaked as Dr. Undes wheeled Ozymandias away, into the hallway of bright light.

"Their names, Max!" he yelled as loudly as he could. "WHAT ARE THEIR NAMES?"

"Frances Jane… and Ozymandias!" Max shouted back, as the door slid shut.

Now it was just Max and the darkness…

The lights were flicked on. White stark light flooded the room, and Max squinted.

Max, the fluorescent lights on the ceiling, and Juliette.

"Impressed, Max?"

Max scowled at her, raising her tough guise immediately. But internally she was ready to sob with joy and relief, because her Ozymandias, he was alive, alive, alive!

"Hardly," she sneered at the android.

"Oh, but you are impressed," Juliette said dismissively. "It is of no matter. He is undergoing surgery in three hours, and then he will no longer be yours."

"Wh-what do you m-mean, "no longer mine?"" She cursed herself for stammering but she couldn't help it.

Juliette smiled, frigid as the dead of winter. "You will soon see. You are his first test."

And she spun on one heel and left the room, flicking the lights off behind her. Click.

"TELL ME!" Max screamed.

She beat on the cage with her fists until she felt blood dripping down her feathers. She screamed bloody murder until her throat was raw, and she sobbed until her face was numb. She rocked herself into a red unconsciousness, knowing Ozymandias was only a few walls away… but she couldn't reach him.


	17. Chapter 16

Frannie and Kit were groggy as they awoke. The room was dim, the only light coming in through a barred window. They were both clad in hospital robes and nothing else.

"The hell happened?!" Kit moaned, rolling onto his back.

"I… don't know!" Frannie jumped to her feet. "Where are the kids…?"

"Frannieeee…" came a weak voice from the darkness.

"Wendy!" Frannie ran towards the sound and hit a row of cages. "Where are you?"

A small hand grasped Frannie's arm. "Where are we?!" It was Icarus, scared out of his mind.

"Ohh, my head hurts," Peter whined.

"Hold on, I'll get you out!" Frannie reached for the latch and found that each cage was sealed with two massive locks, seemingly opened by fingerprint only.

"Kit, do you have anything I can break these with?" Frannie asked.

"Had a knife… took my boots," Kit muttered, leaning up against the wall to combat his dizziness.

"Where are we?" Icarus repeated.

Matthew spoke up angrily. "How should they know?"

Icarus sighed and slumped back, hand leaving Frannie's arm.

"I'm sorry… I can't get you out." Frannie felt awful that she got to walk around while they were stuck in cages.

"S'okay," Matthew said. "At least these are mediums."

"We're in a real mess," Kit said quietly to Frannie as she rejoined him.

"How did they find us?"

Kit ran a hand through his hair. "A better question is… who are they?"


	18. Chapter 17

It had been several days since Janie and Ozzy had fled the scene of the kidnapping. They had steadily been moving, with no clear destination. They had run into no other people, no cabins or towns or roads, just the crazy wilderness of the Rocky Mountains.

Ozzy woke just as the sun was rising. He sat up and looked around, momentarily disoriented. He was in a tree with Janie, since the ground was damp from showers the day before. Ozzy slid from the branch, using his wings to catch him at the last minute in an attempt to let Janie sleep.

He swooped over the small stream running between two tall oaks and landed on the opposite bank. Getting to his knees, he scooped a handful of clear water and slurped it up. It was good and cold. As he glanced over to the tree where Janie was slumbering peacefully, the sun was lighting up the branches behind her with orange and yellow light. Pretty.

Now for breakfast. Food was getting harder to come by, since the weather was colder now. Ozzy gathered a bunch of dandelions, because they could eat the leaves and yellow petally things. He collected a bunch of elderberries in his pockets, though they were bitter and Janie hated how they made your tongue numb after a while. Then, to his glee, he discovered a black walnut tree… what a stroke of luck! He picked as many as he could hold and rushed back to where Janie was.

"Mornin', Ozzy," came her voice. She was splashing water on her face by the stream.

"I found some walnuts!" Ozzy crowed, emptying his pockets next to her.

"Ooh, walnuts!" She tried to crack one, and found she could crush it with a rock and pick out the tasty niblets inside. They made two more trips to the tree and ate until they were full. They were sitting on a rock, bathed in mid-morning sunlight, when Janie brought up the subject they had both been avoiding like the plague.

"Ozzy… when are we gonna find Mama?"

"We're not supposed to, remember?"

"But we gotta! She needs us, Ozzy. We gotta help her and everybody."

Ozzy sighed. This shouldn't be his call. He was too little! But a memory tugged at his brain…

"Frannie calls it "homing."" Max had folded her legs beneath her. "It's basically when you feel where home is."

"Where is home?" Ozzy had asked.

"Silly! Home is where your family is."

"Mama told me once that we always know where our family is, because we're special," Ozzy explained to Janie. "We just have to listen reeeally hard!"

"I'm listening," Janie huffed.

"No, you gotta concentrate. Like this." To demonstrate, Ozzy squeezed his eyes shut and concentrated really hard. Upon peeking open one eye, he saw Janie had followed suit. They listened-

Janie's eyes popped open at the same time as Ozzy's.

"That way!" Ozzy leapt up and pointed. "Mama, she's that way, I can just feel it!"

Janie jumped to her feet, beating her wings in excitement. "Guess what I heard, Ozzy! Guess guess!"

"What?"

"I heard the ocean calling!"


	19. Chapter 18

Max's cage had been moved to another room, near a window. She could hear waves crashing against the shore outside, the shhh of the sea.

It had been more than three hours… whatever horrible surgery Juliette was talking about, it was going on now. Maybe it was even over.

My babies are safe, Max chanted in her head. They're alive. They'll be okay. Even if I die, they will be okay.

Oh, Ozymandias… how could this happen to us? Our love… it was cut short. Now it's being sliced even shorter. Soon…

Soon…

What's that… smell…

The last thing Max was aware of was a pinkish fog creeping into her vision, and the high chime of a female robot's laugh.


	20. Chapter 19

OZYMANDIAS AWAKEN

His eyes open.

PROCESSING

Colors are so bright now. The white is blinding, the black is stifling.

PROCESSING

A little voice in his head. Welcome back, Ozymandias.

He opens his mouth to respond, but he can't get words out. It feels so strange.

Don't try to speak yet. It won't work.

Half-questions flutter about his head, but the little voice banishes them. Inconsequential.

OZYMANDIAS STAND

He swings his legs off the bed. They feel stiff. Metal clicks and whirs. He finds his feet as they hit the floor.

My name is Juliette. You will act on my command.

OZYMANDIAS POSITIVE

Good boy. Do you know where you are right now?

OZYMANDIAS NEGATIVE

You are in a hospital that works miracles of all kinds, Ozymandias. But we have also made mistakes.

OZYMANDIAS UNSURE

I have a mistake for you to rectify. Come.

OZYMANDIAS WALK

OZYMANDIAS WALK NOW

He didn't walk. He was confused. Mistake? Rectify? The last thing he remembered was-

OZYMANDIAS WALK NOW

He walked.


	21. Chapter 20

Rough arms were dragging her out of the cage. Max barely had enough energy to twitch, let alone fight or bite or scream. She limply hung in the arms of some doctor as he carried her down the hallway.

"There." Juliette's voice. The doctor dropped Max unceremoniously onto the freezing linoleum.

Max struggled to lift her head. Her vision was clearing slightly, and she could see two pairs of feet: one bare, and one in high heels. Juliette… and…

"Ozymandias?" she croaked.

There was no acknowledgement. She looked-

"Ozymandias!" She struggled upright. "I'm so glad-"

"Max, meet Ozymandias. Ozymandias, Max." Juliette wore a small smirk-like smile on her flawless face.

"But we know each other already!" Max objected.

"Now you do." Juliette suddenly turned and stared hard at Ozymandias. After a short minute, he nodded curtly.

Then he flung Max through the wall.


	22. Chapter 21

"Max, meet Ozymandias. Ozymandias, Max."

OZYMANDIAS LOG: Female girl: Max.

But she's familiar, somehow…

No. She is a stranger.

Female girl: Max. Stranger.

"But we know each other already!" He could not see her face; it was blurred, like somebody took an eraser to it.

STRANGER.

"Now you do." The voice returned. This is Max. She is a mistake. Remedy it.

OZYMANDIAS LOG: Female girl: Max. Stranger. Mistake.

OZYMANDIAS REMEDY

He was fast, faster than you could imagine- he grabbed her arm (was that joy in her eyes? No, now it was fear)-

Flung her through the wall. Dust and concrete crumbled.

Good. Finish her.

OZYMANDIAS FINISH

OZYMANDIAS FINISH

FINISH HER OZYMANDIAS

So loud, in his head. But it seemed muted-

-this was Max. Max laying in the pine needles bathed in golden light, Max flying through the air, Max sighing into his mouth, Max sleeping beside him, Max Max Max Max Max Max Max!'

FINIS

But he no longer listened. He walked over to the broken wall and found Max, bloody and dead-looking and-

-face clear and he REMEMBERED-

OZYMANDIAS YES

His vision went black.


	23. Chapter 22

"Wake up, Ozymandias," came a sweet whisper.

He gasped, bolting upright, Max's soft hands on his face. And then she was kissing him like, like, like he couldn't find a comparison because there is nothing like Max kissing like this. Nothing at all.

"What happened?" His voice sounded strange to him, unused to hearing it.

Max pulled away. "You… you killed Juliette."

"I don't remember doing that…" He was on the floor. How did he get there?

Max almost seemed to read his mind. "They'd locked us in but… well, you picked me up and carried me into the other room. You set me down and… you left, and when you came back, I was fully awake and you had blood all over you and… then you blacked out."

Ozymandias looked down and saw he did indeed have blood all over himself. And his body… it felt different.

"Are you… okay?" He remembered how he hurt her, and he felt so bad.

"Yeah, I'm right as rain!" Max assured him. "It takes more than some wall to break my bones… But are you okay?"

He wasn't sure yet. "They… did surgery on me, Max," he wheezed. "I think… I don't know what they did but Juliette brainwashed me to forget you and obey her, but it must have broken when… well."

"Is everybody here? The flock and Frannie and Kit?" Max asked him.

"I don't know. We should go try to find them…" Ozymandias stands shakily, using the wall to support himself. "But we should be careful of the doctors-"

"Ozym-" Max started, but he went into the hallway.

All the doctors were dead.

Blood painted the floor, walls, ceiling, bodies. Ozymandias swayed. "I did this…?!"

"I don't think you meant to." Max tried soothe him, but he could tell the sight shook her.

"Let's just-" Ozymandias began, when he heard a voice. He turned his head to hear more clearly.

"What is it?" Max asked.

"Shhh, one second. I think I hear… Wendy!" Ozymandias took off, legs unsteady, and he heard Max behind him.

They reached a door, and Ozymandias easily kicked it down. In the corner of the room, Kit and Frannie were crouched in hospital gowns, shielding their eyes from the intense light.

"Frannie! Kit!" Max exclaimed.

"Max? Is that you?" came a familiar voice.

"Matty!" Max literally flew into the room. "And Icarus and Petey and Wendy!"

Ozymandias followed slowly behind, listening to them chirp happily at one another. He snapped the locks off their cages one by one, and stood back when he was finished. Suddenly, they hushed…

"Ozymandias?" Matthew breathed reverently.

Then, in a rush of frenzy and feathers, the whole flock leapt on him.


	24. Epilogue

Those events seemed like a bad dream, but it turned into a good one at the end. The flock, plus Frannie and Kit, drove back towards the Lake House to look for Janie and Ozzy. They met halfway. The first meeting between Ozymandias and his two children was indescribable. You would've had to have been there.

The group found a new home, this time in the Appalachians. It was ultra-secluded, but even more plush than their first Lake House. They called it the Mansion.

Max and Ozymandias never had more children. They requested a separate house so they could raise Ozymandias Jr. and Frances Jane II on their own. Max made up with Frannie and Kit but still demanded her personal space!

Ozymandias was X-rayed and found to have metal joints, several metallic bones, and an implant in his brain. Frannie found a way to permanently deactivate it. The only thing different about him was how much stronger he was.

Gradually, the flock began to depart. Obviously none of them could lead normal lives (or normal for most people) with their impossible-to-miss giant wings, but they got a taste of it before returning home.

Ozzy and Janie are so happy. They're taking online homeschool classes, and Janie already knows French and Chinese. Max and Ozymandias are as in love as they were six years ago. Frannie and Kit are thinking of having a child of their own…

Life couldn't be better.

~ _when the ocean calls, you must answer~_

 _FINIS_


End file.
